Uchechukwu Nnaike
Teach For Nigeria (TFN), a non-profit organisation dedicated to building a movement of Nigeria’s most promising leaders across the country, has awarded two of its alumni a seed grant of N1 million each to scale their initiatives to address educational challenges in the country.
The two winners emerged at the end of an incubation hub pitch competition sponsored by SNEPCo.
The Incubation Hub Programme, launched in July, was to support Teach for Nigeria alumni in the social innovation space with relevant resources needed to drive their initiatives focused on promoting access to education for children in marginalized communities.
At the event, five innovators selected as part of the cohort for the 2022 Incubation Hub had the opportunity to pitch for N1 million in seed funding. The innovators were Oluwaseun Kayode of Schoolinka, Zainab Akintayo of Smart Garden Concept, Odinakachukwu Nwosu representing VirtualXcursions, Aramide of Talentmine Academy, and Obasanjo Fajemirokun of Brace-Up The Young.
At the end of the pitch, Odinakachukwu Nwosu and Oluwaseun Kayode emerged winners and were awarded N1 million each to expand their initiatives.
In her remarks, the TFN CEO, Folawe Omikunle, said that participants are equipped with the practical knowledge required to build and sustain their social innovations through the incubation hub.
“This is one of the essentials of building a society where innovation and other creative ideas can be used to develop society and improve the quality of learning,” said Omikunle.
Dr Isa Omagu, CEO of Premier Advisory Limited and a judge at the event, encouraged using social innovations to solve social problems and stated that innovators who presented their business ideas underwent structured business training and understood the business models of running a sustainable venture.
Reacting to his win, Kayode, founder of Schoolinka and a pioneer member of the alumni body, said, “I came with high hopes for the pitch competition, and I believe I have a solid product that the panels found very viable, scalable, sustainable, and a credible venture worth supporting. Schoolinka intends to intentionally scale to remote communities in the country with limited internet access, including some communities in other African countries.”
The incubation hub is a three-month intensive enterprise development training that provides opportunities for TFN alumni to grow and scale their enterprises.
